


gay goth scene

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: dimension 20 [76]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Campaign 06: The Unsleeping City: Chapter Two, Crush at First Sight, First Meetings, Fluff, Friendship, Genderfluid Cody "Night Angel" Walsh (Dimension 20), Getting Together, M/M, Smoking, They/Them Pronouns for Cody "Night Angel" Walsh (Dimension 20), group chats but it's not a gc fic, pete and cody have a combined 38 charisma score but it cancels out when they use it on each other, this is almost certainly not how small mall businesses work, very briefly implied/referenced self destructive behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27722606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: Cody is the new proprietor of a flower shop and Pete's just getting his tattoo parlor off the ground. This goes exactly how you imagine it will.
Relationships: Cody "Night Angel" Walsh & Josh Mendoza, Cody "Night Angel" Walsh/Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Kingston Brown & Pete the Plug
Series: dimension 20 [76]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706107
Comments: 22
Kudos: 93





	gay goth scene

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jadeandquartz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadeandquartz/gifts).



> title is from the song of the same name by the hidden cameras

Cody tries the key for the third time and apparently his muttered, " _Fuck!_ " isn't as quiet as he'd meant it to be because the guy over in the space next to him turns toward him.

"Hey! Are you having trouble too?" the guy says. He's average height and his brown hair is shaved on the sides and it looks- really cool. He's wearing a neon green mesh shirt (sick), a darker green jacket covered in brightly colored patches (not Cody's vibe, but sick) and he's got a blue, pink, and white striped bracelet on his wrist (hell yeah). But the thing that really catches Cody's eye are the _tattoos_. A green butterfly done with detail he can tell from here must've taken forever stretches from his neck down to his shoulder. His arms are _covered_ in them, all bright colors and swirls and stars and he could spend hours staring at and still not catch all the detail, and that's just what isn't covered by his jacket. _Whoa_.

"Uh, yeah. Figures they'd mess up the fuckin' key," Cody says, waving it awkwardly. It's as he does it that he catches what's written on the little paper tag attached- _Phantasmal Ink_.

He slaps a hand to his forehead and drags it down his face. Great. Now he has to track down some other store and get them their key back and hope they have his, otherwise fuck knows where it is, and this is gonna fuck up the schedule for _everything_ , this _sucks_ -

"Are you, uh, good, dude?" the guy says, and Cody realizes that yeah, he probably looks weird.

"They totally mixed up my key- you don't know where Phantasmal Ink is, do you?"

The guy brightens.

"Oh, hey, that's me! Are you Pushing Petals?"

"Shit, yeah," Cody says, and they trade keys. Of course Pete's fucking _Phantasmal Ink_ , he's covered in _tattoos_ , and Cody wants to facepalm again but Pete seems cool so far and he doesn't _actually_ go through life sabotaging all of his possible meaningful relationships (romantic and otherwise), despite what Josh implies every now and then. Asshole.

Pete pushes his bangs out of his face and Cody finds himself following the movement. He's got tattoos across his knuckles- letters, but Cody can't make out what they say.

Maybe his neighbors here won't be as shitty as the ones back in his old mall. You'd think somebody who works at Spencer's would fucking _be cool_ , but even thinking about fucking _Jace_ makes him itch for his buster sword, so he pushes it away.

"I'm Pete, by the way, and that's a really cool name!"

"Oh, uh, thanks. I'm Cody, or some people call me Night Angel, or whatever, really, uh," Cody can feel his face heating up and you know what? Actually, fuck this, fuck having neighbors, maybe he should just move back to Dayton and beg for his manager position back, he can deal with Jace and the Spencer's.

Pete doesn't laugh, though, just awkwardly waves and says, "Cool, cool, that's really... cool. Uh."

There's another awkward moment as the two of them stand there, silent, before Cody motions vaguely in the direction of his still-closed storefront.

"I, uh, gotta get to moving in, but uh, it was good meeting you? I mean, it _was_ good, meeting you, uh, Pete, cool, bye-"

He makes his escape before he can make a fool of himself even more and thankfully he doesn't have anymore key problems. He doesn't actually start on anything inside. Instead, he sits on a couple boxes and texts the roommate chat about the incredibly cute artist who just moved in next door and who is no doubt going to make Cody's work life a disaster.

Josh, of course, has no sympathy at all and Cody is tempted to call him instead because _clearly_ he isn't understanding the gravity of this situation, but Josh knows better than to accept his call. Nasir just sends a string of exasperated emojis that Cody replies to with equally outraged ones.

Eventually (once Nasir and Josh stop responding) he puts down his phone and gets to work, because at least if he's busy he doesn't have to think about Pete's extremely bright smile. _Fuck_.

Pete watches as the guy- tall, even taller with the platform boots he's wearing- walk away, long black coat flaring out around him in a way that should, and is, ridiculous, but it's also kind of cute, and he sighs, even as he can't keep a tiny smile from his face. He _knows_ he has a thing for weird artistic types but this just isn't _fair_. The blue streaked hair? Green eyes? The spikes? _Night Angel_?

His phone buzzes and he's glad for the distraction.

 _r u all moved in yet? -_ _sof_

He runs another hand through his hair- probably a disaster at this point, why does he even bother in the mornings- and moves to unlock the front. The key works, thankfully, and he pulls himself up onto the counter as he texts back.

_no bc the mall mixed up my key - pete_

_noooo do i need to come make them fix it? i haven't broken any wrists in a while - sof_

_please dont - pete_

_besides its fine now - pete_

_they mixed up me and my neighbor's keys - pete_

_oh?????? - sof_

_shut up - pete_

_are they cute???? - sof_

_... - pete  
_

_oh my god they are!!! tell me u got their number - sof_

_no i didnt get his number we just met?? - pete_

_besides he could be an asshole for all i know - pete_

_well what does he do? - sof_

_...florist - pete_

_well there you go!! no way he's a creep you can't be a creep and work with flowers, or they'd all wither and die - sof_

_there is no way that's true - pete_

_it's TRUE the florist me and dave got for our wedding confirmed - sof_

_well thats just what they want you to think - pete_

_ok gtg actually have to work now - pete_

_this conversation is NOT over peter!!! - sof_

"Wait, you did _what_ after you got your chest piece? _How_ did it not get infected?"

"Oh no it totally did, I was in the hospital for a while, but it looked super sick-"

"No! No, oh my god, Cody I am having a retroactive adrenaline rush, _please_ tell me the artist that did this is no longer licensed?"

"Licensed? My dude Nick's step-sister's cousin Bazathrax did it, he took a class at the community center; did it in his basement with a machine he got off Craigslist, it was awesome."

" _What._ "

"-so she asked me for ' _I love you, but also I hate you, and if you talk to me in public again I'll slap you, but like, keep talking to me_ ,' but wanted _roses_ included, and like, you can't put fucking _roses_ in an arrangement like that, especially not fucking _red roses_ , and I _told_ her, it was gonna muddy up her intentions but she was like, super insistent, so I did it, and guess fucking what-"

"Her message didn't come through?"

"-her message didn't come through! I mean, it never was gonna come through, because if your relationship if to the point you're communicating through flowers it's not gonna work, I've been doing this long enough to know _that_ , but also like, I'm not gonna fuckin' turn her _down_ , _obviously_ , but then she kept badgering me for weeks about how to fucking ' _convey my deepest sorrows and my strongest loathing_ ' which, _what_."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Pete, flower language has ruined my fucking _life_ , dude. It's about the color theory and the common associations, not some secret fucking alphabet!"

"Uh, hey, is this Cody's place?"

Cody looks up from the counter to see an older dude standing in the doorway. He's got white locs up in a bun and he's wearing an old brown coat, and he's got a whole chill vibes aesthetic going on Cody can respect.

"'Sup, welcome to Pushing Petals, what are your floral needs, bro?"

The guy walks up to the counter.

"Hey, I'm Kingston, my friend Pete recommended you. Me and my- uh, well my partner, Liz, we've got an anniversary coming up, and I wanna get her flowers, but it's, uh... a little complicated? But I just need something simple, you know?"

Cody smiles and prays to Satan that Pete's friend isn't going to ask him to communicate something that would work better written on the card.

"Sure, sure dude. So is this the first anniversary, or-?"

"Well, ah- we've known each other a while, it's our... second third anniversary? I just want something simple, you know, classic, but no roses. She hates roses, thinks they're too cliche."

Cody nods.

"Yeah dude, don't even worry about it. Any allergies?"

"Nah."

"Cool, cool, how about..." he turns away from the counter to pick through the pre-arranged stuff he's got sitting behind the counter. "...these?"

Sunflowers, with a couple poppies and a handful of violets to make the yellow pop even more. It's a little unconventional, but Kingston's eyes light up.

"These are perfect, thank you very much."

Cody rings him up and tries very hard not to blush at the thought that Pete talks about him to his friends. They hang out during their lunch breaks, yeah, and he's honestly a really cool dude and maybe Cody has been working extra hard to make him laugh during lunch because he's got a smile that lights up the room, but like _whatever_ -

He's grateful when Kingston leaves, so he can put up the lunch break sign early and head out to smoke. The sappiness of his thoughts is getting to be a little much for _himself_ , so as he leans against the wall, he checks the roommate groupchat.

This, as it does every time, proves itself to be a mistake.

**1:33 PM; Tuesday**

_what's up fuckers - **night angel**_

_Cody I told you we're not mounting a scythe in the living room - **nasir**_

> _[reacted to with a :( by **josh** ]_

_i didn't even SAY anything - **night angel**_

_Oh sorry - **nasir**_

_[ **night angel** is typing]_

_Stop spamming the chat about your hot work neighbor - **nasir**_

_[ **night angel** has stopped typing]_

_i don't know why you feel the need to attack me - **night angel**_

_Dude, as your roommate and friend, I am telling you to just ask him out - **nasir**_

_nasir's right dude just ask him out he obviously likes you - **josh**_

_josh i thought you were my FRIEND - **night angel**_

_i can't just - **night angel**_

_talk about my feelings - **night angel**_

_that would be lame - **night angel**_

_Cody please I am begging you, utilize some semblance of basic communication skills, I KNOW that you have them - **nasir**_

_dude if u dont ask him out i'll change ur xbox password - **josh**_

_first of all, don't you fucking dare - **night angel**_

_you wouldn't - **night angel**_

_josh don't fucking joke about this dude - **night angel**_

**4:58 PM; Wednesday** _  
_

_josh what the FUCK - **night angel**_

_Thanks for the rec, Pete! Liz loved the flowers :) - Kingston_

_np dude im glad it worked out - pete_

_...did night angel mention me at all? - pete_

_Who? - Kingston_

_uh - pete_

_cody - pete_

_No? Should he have? - Kingston_

_Oh! Do you want me to ask him about you? ;) - Kingston_

_no!!!! kingston DO NOT - pete_

_You deserve to be happy, Pete - Kingston_

_If you like this boy, you should tell him! [rainbow flag emoji] - Kingston_

_[pete is typing]_

_[pete is typing]_

_thanks dude <3 - pete_

Pete's settling down at their usual table when Cody joins him. Pete gives them a wave, and then notices a new pin on their jacket. Where normally there's a black rectangle with "he/him" in white, jagged letters, there's now a white lightning bolt with dark red "they/them" in a font that sort of looks like dripping blood.

"Oh, love the pin, where did you get it? My friend Zee is always looking for new stores."

Cody looks surprised for a second, before the expression melts off into an awkward, soft smile. They rub the back of their neck as they say, "Oh, uh, it was actually a gift from my friend Josh, but I can ask...?"

The bell above the door dings, and Pete looks up.

"Are you my three o'clock, Josh Mendoza?"

"That's me," Josh says, and Pete gives a thumb's up.

"Awesome, awesome. So, it sounds like you've mostly got your idea for what you want? Talk to me about that. I've got some books you can look through if you're not sure, though."

Pete slides over the books, and Josh takes them, but he keeps his eyes on Pete instead of opening them.

"So you're Pete, huh?" he says, and suddenly Pete remembers why that name was so familiar. Cody's friend.

"Uh, yeah..."

But Josh's stare is intense, and Pete trails off.

"Um. So about your tattoo?"

Josh stares for a little bit longer, before nodding his head. He pulls out some notebook paper with several designs on it, and the rest of the appointment goes smoothly.

It's been a month and Pete and Cody have fallen comfortably into the routine of syncing up their lunch breaks. They're meeting at the pretzel place at the corner of the food court, as usual.

"Hey, Pete-"

"Cody! I was just-"

They both stop, and chuckle awkwardly.

Pete takes a deep breath.

"So, uh, I've been wondering would you like to have dinner? Some time? As like. A date. I mean. Uh."

He resists the urge to try and walk through the nearest wall. _Smooth_.

Cody blinks, and can feel their face reddening.

"I- I, um, I was actually gonna ask if maybe you wanted to see a movie with me some time, uhm, I'd love that, dude."

Pete shuffles awkwardly. "Do you- uh. Can I hold your hand?"

Cody coughs. "Uh, fuck, yeah dude. Hell yeah."

The food court tacos they decide to share taste about as good as you'd expect from food court Taco Bell, that day, but neither of them notice.

**Author's Note:**

> im on tumblr @nonbinarywithknife  
> i am. so unhappy with how kingston's voice came out but every attempt to fix it came out worse so just imagine it's lou wilson doing his award winning Acting(tm) throughout the scene ok


End file.
